the last savage

apparently i’m enjoying painting my handmade sketchbooks in my bookcases because i’m still at it. this is watercolor, some some has been made opaque or gouache-like by mixing some china white into it.

my tastes have changed in watercolor paper. used to only use hotpress, but more and more i’m enjoying the toothy grain of coldpress.

divine.

occasionally i clean my palette, but not very often.

i re-covered my boring black stillman & birn with some ledger papers.

some, but not all of the brushes i used for my most recent watercolor…

i watched moonlight and manchester by the sea in preparation for the oscars tomorrow night. both good, but manchester was riveting. WARNING! upcoming spoiler alert if you haven’t seen it…

about a dozen years ago there was a tragic landslide in la conchita. i’ll never forget the story of jimmie wallet who had left the house for ice cream treats for his 3 little girls and wife. the mountain side roared down and engulfed his house with his family inside. i remember the images on the news of him digging through the mud. his tears and screams. you can read more about it here. every time i pass la conchita on my way up the coast, i look for the little crosses up on the hills behind the houses and i think of jimmie, his surviving teenage daughter, and the family they lost.

anyway, i found manchester by the sea deeply moving and casey affleck’s acting masterful.

i haven’t seen many of the other films nominated yet, but i’ll still watch and enjoy every minute. hopefully our impulsive demagogue-in-chief will receive a talking-to, from some of the oscar winners. that will be worth seeing!

The journal with the bird and ledger paper is one of my favs! I do want to see Manchester BTS, very much. Sad story about the family lost in the mudslide. We had a huge one a couple years ago where many died, not terribly far from where you will be staying, bit on the mainland. Terribly tragic. It was on national and international news. Here is the link.. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-26/washington-mudslide/5346460

I won’t be watching oscars either, just because I like to keep entertainment as politics free as possible. More and more I compartmentalize my life, it seems. It is their right to speak, though.

When I went to feed the peacock couple today he was all floofed out, flirting with his girl! She was mighty impressed, let me tell you. He was also spooking the Arabian horse in the paddock right next to him. Poor horse was all like “WTH IS that thing!! “. How is it I never have my phone with me at such times? Sigh.

I continue to be thoroughly amazed and intrigued by your life, art, intellect and sense of humor!

I am SO enjoying these paintings of your sketchbooks. Beautiful! Really like the ledger paper on your book covers. Do you think the paper will hold up on the cover? I see you reinforced it some at the spine. Love ledger paper & need to use more of mine. This looks so great.

i chose a very sturdy ledger paper and used mod podge to connect 2 pieces. i’m almost through with that sketchbook and it will go up on the shelf…but even if i wasn’t it feels pretty sturdy for home use.

Live your ledger paper cover for your Stillman & Brin journal. Much nicer! I just topped off my watercolors in preparation for my trip to Australia. I don’t clean up my box very often, either. Mine box look very much like yours.

oh thank you! here’s the trailer in case anyone else wants to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8pGJBgiiDU
WHICH… i am going to do the second it’s released on amazon. i love adam driver ever since seeing him in GIRLS.

Yes, La Conchita. Impossible to forget. Your watercolors are inspiring as always. There’s just something about the trying out of the paint, the color swatches, that is delicious. As for the Oscars, I probably won’t watch because I’m just so tired of politics and don’t think more angry or denigrating words are helpful. Too bad it’s not enough to simply honor the creativity of movie-makers and say thank-you for getting to do such a thing in one’s life.

thanks linda!
in these times when so much of what we value in our democracy is being threatened i find it inspirational to hear the voices of dissent. as they used to say, the PERSONAL IS POLITICAL. i look to the artists we honor via the oscars to use their voices to reach out and speak. it’s very simple to tune out what one doesn’t wish to hear. i do it all the time.

I feel that story, movies, the actors, directors, everyone it takes to put those films together is how they “use their voices to reach out and speak.” Art transcends the everyday, as you well know, and for me, it’s the only motivator or wayshower for change that truly works. Yes, the personal is political, that was, and is, the call of my generation of feminists, one I still believe. The movies take the personal, which happens to be political because it’s life, and shows a way, not only an argument. That’s not tuning out, it’s listening deeply.